


the fox mother

by protaganope



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Gen, Mythology - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-09-18 03:16:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 725
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16987089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protaganope/pseuds/protaganope
Summary: Why is a fox red? Why do they howl? It began differently, long ago.





	the fox mother

Long ago, before the death of the gods, there lived a fox mother with no cubs.    
  
Every day she would mourn the loss of her children, for the gods did not listen to her pleas; even one child refused to grow inside her. Every night, understandably, she would grow angry, yet she did not yell. She did not throw her fists at the sky or the earth or any of Their gifted things, and she would travel to the big lake from which all life came from to pray.    
  
At this point, a fox’s voice, you may not know, was given to them in creation as a gift. The sound of a fox is one that should bring even the greatest of beasts to their knees at how beautiful it did sound. A fox’s voice was all they had, and yet she would sing and sing and sing in prayer until her lungs gave out and she let out great tears of pain at even the slightest word. The gods would heal her throat every morning, though she begged for them to grant her what she so desperately needed, children. She soon found that she would not be listened, but she did not stop her nightly singing.   
  
It was one of these nights that the Sunset god happened to hear the fox mother’s cries and travelled to the spot of which she prayed. Upon seeing Them, she let out a shriek of fear, for she did not recognise the god of Sunset as it was dark and They had grown to be twice her size under the cover of the night. Voice weak, she asked what she believed to be a stranger Their name.    
  
The Sunset god did not reply, and she felt her hackles rise, but then They said unto her, “You must travel as far as your legs will allow, and then eat the fruit that I shall prepare for you. Then you shall be gifted that which you desire.”   
  
Upon hearing this, the fox mother was filled with a great energy that left her trembling. She set off at once, with none of her Earthmade items or Skygiven blessings. It was an arduous journey, but once she could take no more steps and her throat had long dried up hoarse, her at then white coat almost entirely bloodied from the heat and rough terrain of Old Earth, it happened.    
  
Collapsing on the ground felt like the next realm and she tried her best to call out for the Sunset god, and They did appear to her as soon as the words left her.    
  
“You have done well,” the god of Sunset said to her. “I shall reward you with that which you seek, but it shall come at a price.” The fox mother, seeing no other choice now, for she had left her Earthmade items and Skygiven blessings in her den, which she made with the help of the Earth god. Where she had wandered was absent of life and death but yet she felt a strange pull to it, a soothing sensation that immediately made her agree to any price that should arise from her deal. “Good.” Said the Sunset god, and They scribed the contract into the dust where her exhausted body lay.    
  
The god of Sunset called into being the great fruit, and said, “You shall be full.” The fox mother, having had no food for many days, immediately ate it all up. And then the Sunset god melted into water that she drank hurriedly. The water that escaped soaked into the ground and there was life in this place without life or death.    
  
This was where the fox mother decided to live for the rest of her days.    
  
In time the fox mother found herself with many children, and was blessed, though she found it difficult to sing her praises to the god of Sunset in prayer. For the gods could not reach her here, and none of the gods did heal her throat after that one night.   
  
The Sunset god had taken her beautiful voice, as payment for her children.    
  
So this is why, listeners, a fox is a fox. Its coat is red and its voice is bad. This is why, as you hear now, a fox does not have regrets when howling on unanswered nights.   
  



End file.
